Good Enough

It made sense when she thought about; when she really really thought about it. Her constant want to spend more time with him, her random pangs of worry about no longer having a reason to interact with him, and her eagerness to do almost anything she could for both him and Yukine.

Not to mention that he was… fairly good looking too.

She swallowed. Ami and Yama hadn't failed to point that out after she told them she would think about how she felt towards Yato, trying to point out reasons why it was 'obvious' she had a crush.

It wasn't that she didn't notice; she did, on the very first day she spotted him sitting on that bench. But when the memories clicked and she recognized him, those thoughts immediately vanished because it was Yato and that was all that mattered. That was still what mattered first, but tonight alone she had caught herself staring at least three times.

Now that everything she did had been pointed out to her, she was hopeless, and she knew Yama and Ami were right. She did have a crush and it was pointless to deny it. But now she suddenly felt like she didn't know how to act around him. On the surface everything was fine, but she'd tense up, flush, and let out small involuntary squeaks any time he got even slightly too close.

Yato didn't notice, but Yukine did. Leaning back from the table and his eyebrows raised, he asked, "Is everything okay? You seem kinda jumpy today."

"Mmm, sorry. I think I could maybe use a little bit more sleep." She laughed nervously as she forced out the excuse.

Yato tilted his head at that, "You're not sleeping well? What's up with that? I know you're not staying up to finish work since you said you do everything ahead of time."

"My air con hasn't been working so well and it's been kind of hot in my room. And then when I can't sleep, I end up watching some of Touno-sama's matches on my phone and then I get really into it and want to keep watching more." It wasn't a lie, it was something she'd done.

Last semester.

He scratched the back of his head, "Well, I'd offer to try and fix it but I know the dorms are pretty strict about who they let into the building. But someone should come soon, right?"

She quickly nodded in response, "Yeah, of course. I'm sure it'll be fine. I can deal with one or two nights with a little less sleep than normal, I just need to stay off of my phone; that's all." She waved off the concern of the two boys, inwardly cringing at her small string of lies. "A-anyway, I'm going to head back a little early today so I can start working on the review session for your upcoming test, Yukine-kun."

"Ah, okay." He gave a small nod, but she caught the frown that crossed his mouth for a split second.

"Are you nervous?" She leaned a bit closer to him to see his expression more clearly.

He let out a sheepish laugh and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess a little bit."

"Don't worry, I'll have you well prepared, I promise!" She smiled brightly, "You've already improved a lot so with a few more days of practice, you'll do great. Just make sure to get decent studying time on your own tomorrow, okay?"

"I will." Yukine smiled a bit more confidently, "Thanks, Hiyori."

"You're welcome, Yukine-kun." While she gathered her things together, Yato had already headed towards the front hallway to wait for her.

"Be back in a bit, Yukine!" He called out loudly as he walked.

"Kay!" He answered back, returning to his homework.

Just a few steps away from his front door as they started down the stairs, Yato scratched the back of his neck and started quietly, "Hey, um. I'm sorry about how the thing with your friends went the other day."

Hiyori waved her hands, "You don't have to apologize! I know Ami-chan and Yama-chan can be a bit… eccentric, I guess is the best way to say it." She let out a small laugh.

"I just noticed that you've sort of been acting a little strange. I mean, I know you said the whole thing with your air con. But I was just worried you maybe were upset about something." He placed his hands in his pockets, looking off to the side as they made their way towards the street.

"Of course not. I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that, but they absolutely insisted because I talk about you a lot." She blurted out and she began to regret her word choice as soon as his gaze moved back in her direction, his eyes curious. "You and Yukine-kun both." She clarified with a quiet gulp to herself.

He looked forward again, "What about?"

"Oh, you know. Just stuff that happened that day or say I laughed either at one of your tweets or while answering you, I had to explain the conversation somewhat." She looked off too, the nervousness starting to clearly leak out through her voice as her heart started to pound.

"Ah, I see." He nodded along, not saying anything more than that.

"You know, Yato…" He probably looked towards her after she called his name, but she didn't have the bravery to meet his gaze quite yet, "I think I thought of something to ask you about in return for Yukine-kun's tutoring sessions."

His voice perked up, "Oh yeah? What is it?"

"I was wondering if you could," She inhaled, trying to get whatever little oxygen that she could to finish her sentence, "maybe take me out to dinner?"

"Like the place we went to before or somewhere more high class?" She heard him laugh from her side, "Let me know if I need to save up or not."

Her words caught in her throat as she tried to answer back, the only thing passing her lips a small sound that sounded like a cough.

"Uh, Hiyori?"

She was certain now that he was looking at her, waiting for an answer, but she still couldn't lift her head. "W-well, I, um… sort of meant… l-like a date."

"O—oh…" She heard his tone shift completely and a gripping pressure took over her chest.

Finally she looked up, frowning deeply as she tried to apologize, "I'm so sorry, you don't have to—"

Now he avoided her eyes, reaching behind his head to rub his neck as he answered, "You're really great, Hiyori, but—I, um. I think it's better if we just stay friends, you know?" He hesitated, taking a breath, "It might make things weird for Yukine and I dunno you and I are both pretty busy with school and other things too, so…" He trailed off, not bothering to continue his sentence.

She took a breath and forced out, "R-right, I understand."

"Sorry." He sighed heavily and she caught him kicking the sidewalk from the corner of her eye.

Hiyori bit her lip, her frown deepening, "You don't have to apologize. I should, I—I should have known better than to be so blunt, especially after –I should have thought of something else. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it too much. Let's…" He paused and finally looked at her, and she realized they had made it to the edge of campus. With a forced smile, he asked, "Let's just start over tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay…" She answered quietly and nodded, "I'll see you then."

"Right." He nodded as well before turning around and heading off, his head hanging down still as she watched him.

Her shoulders slumping and the weight on her chest only intensifying, she stared off into the street, 'Maybe I shouldn't have done that…' After a moment, she pulled out her phone to text Ami, who would likely be waiting for her. Though, thankfully, she hadn't told either of her friends that she intended to ask him today or that she was even going to ask him at all. She wasn't sure if she would even be able to do it, but now that she had and had been rejected, she was glad she chose to keep her thoughts to herself; at least for the moment.

Hey, Ami-chan. I just got back to campus but I think I'm going to have to skip out meeting up downstairs for dinner. I've got a lot of stuff to do for Yukine-kun's upcoming test and I've got to start preparing to study for one of my own too so I'm going to get started right away and maybe get something small to eat in a little while. I'm sorry! Hope I can make it up to you.

She waited a minute or so, not wanting to be distracted by her phone as she walked since it was starting to get dark.

No problem, Hiyori! Good luck with all of your work!

She smiled to herself.

Thanks, you too!

She was a bit glad it was just Ami; if it were Yama, she probably would have corralled her into at least "a little" time with them. But thankfully Yama had a later class tonight, so Hiyori was able to make it up to her room in peace.

Once she had flipped on the light, closed the door, and slipped off her shoes, she moved into the main part of her room with a soft sigh before crawling on to her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She'd been so happy every time she'd come up to her room for the past two weeks and now she couldn't help but wonder if she ruined all of that.

It could easily be extremely awkward from now on. Yato said they could just start over tomorrow, but would he really forget or be able to pretend this didn't happen? And now she would always have that moment tucked away in the back of her mind any time she interacted with him too. She also considered the fact that things might turn awkward with Yukine as well if he started to catch on to her and Yato not getting along as well as they used to.

She moved her hands over her face, her fingertips pushing back her bangs as she thought, 'I've made such a mess of everything…'

Even if they did manage to stay good friends, how long would that last before her feelings threatened to destroy everything once again? She should have stayed clueless and just enjoyed Yato's company for what it was worth instead of trying to dissect her thoughts about him and then starting to wonder what it would be like to actually go out on a date him.

She didn't imagine it really any differently than how she felt whenever she stuck around after Yukine's tutoring sessions and had dinners with them. But the fact that it did feel so natural was what had convinced her that maybe asking him wouldn't have been such a bad idea.

But he was right, it definitely is a complicated situation and other than the fact she'd probably spend more time with him, she didn't think much of Yukine's involvement in the whole thing. Of course, she'd never had to watch out for anybody in the same way that Yato did for Yukine, but she still felt naïve for missing such an important detail.

She let out a small groan to herself before reaching into her pocket for her phone, hoping that maybe reading through a few emails and scrolling through her social media would at least somewhat distract her from the whirling cyclone that her thoughts were beginning to form. The emails seemed to work at least temporarily, until she got on Twitter and realized her complete lack of notifications was thanks to the awkward situation with Yato.

Just as she was considering tossing her phone to the edge of her bed, she felt it vibrate against her hand and she caught Yukine's name pop up in the notifications at the top of her phone followed by a short chirp.

Did something happen between you and Yato? He's been weird ever since he got home and he won't say anything about it.

Her eyes read over the message and her frown deepened, exhaling before finding the will to answer him.

I'm really sorry, Yukine-kun. It's my fault. I sort of asked Yato on a date so I made things awkward between us.

Her phone stayed silent for what felt like forever and she dropped her hand back down to the bed, starting to wonder if Yukine would just leave the conversation at that until she finally felt and heard her text message sound go off again.

idk what's up but he should have been ecstatic. Not sure why he's acting this way.

Hiyori blinked before slowly typing out her response.

What do you mean?

Other than people he knows from high school, which I can count on one hand, Yato hasn't really opened up much to anybody in the three years I've known him. But he basically hasn't shut up since that day you two ran into each other at least until tonight. He acts different around you but it's not in a bad way. If he didn't feel the same way about you I'd honestly be shocked.

He just gets like this sometimes, I don't really know how to explain it because a lot of the time he doesn't even tell me what happened. He'll just be completely fine the next day or whatever. So I guess try to not take it to heart I guess is what I'm saying? Maybe wait a bit and ask again or something.

She read over his lengthy reply and though it made her feel a little more at ease, she also couldn't but wonder what else may have been going through Yato's mind that he didn't say. He was acting normally until she specifically mentioned the word date, so she was certain whatever was troubling him was because of her words, even if he did return her feelings like Yukine was implying.

Well to be honest Yukine-kun, one of the reasons he turned me down is because he was worried about how it would affect you.

Then he could have asked me how I felt about it instead of just assuming.

Hiyori nodded silently, thinking, 'That's true.' Another text message immediately followed.

Still even if that's a part of it I think he was using that as an excuse to avoid saying something else but what idk. I honestly don't care what you guys do as long as any pda is kept to a minimum in front of me cuz I don't really wanna see that. But I wouldn't complain if you were around here more. Having to deal with Yato all by myself 24/7 is no easy task lol

She let a small laugh pass her lips and smiled as she read the reply.

Haha I'm sure, and I wouldn't mind spending more time with you too. Thank you, Yukine-kun. I feel a bit better after talking with you.

She sat up and reached for her bag which she had discarded onto the floor near her bed. As she started to pull out the material for Yukine's tutoring lessons and his upcoming test, her cellphone chirped again.

I didn't really say anything though, I'm kind of just as lost as you are.

It helped just talking about it with someone and it also helps a lot because you're someone who knows Yato well too. I didn't really feel up to saying anything to my friend Ami-chan when I got back and I was probably just going to keep it to myself for a while because I felt pretty awful about potentially ruining our friendship, for both Yato and you.

She started to flip through his materials and got halfway through the first question before she heard her phone again.

Don't worry about me, I wouldn't get upset with you for something like that. If anything I think Yato's a giant idiot for rejecting you in the first place. Anyway I'm sorry for bothering you Hiyori. I'm sure I'm interrupting your dinner or work.

She giggled again before typing out her reply.

It's no problem. Definitely feel free to text or call me anytime you need to.

Thanks.

With that, her phone fell silent once again and she managed to finish another question before she laid her head down and stared over at her desk. She did feel better. But did she really want to ask again and leave herself open to a potential repeat of the situation like Yukine had suggested? She wasn't sure if she could bear it.

She hummed to herself, 'Well… He knows how I feel now, at least. If Yukine-kun's right and he is interested, then maybe I should just wait for him to make the next move instead. That way I don't feel like I'm pressuring him more and also I don't have to worry about doing that to myself again.' She nodded; that sounded like a plan.


Look, some actual movement to the plot XD. And things will only get more interesting from here, starting with next chapter (though maybe not in the way you'd expect). Thanks for all of the support thus far and hopefully I'll write the next chapter fairly quickly since I'm really excited about it!